City settles Treasures case; county still suing

Updated 10:03 pm, Monday, December 10, 2012

Prominent strip club Treasures, hauled into court as an alleged public nuisance and haven for crime by city and county attorneys seven months ago, has agreed to put $100,000 in a nuisance abatement fund as part of a settlement with the city of Houston, City Attorney David Feldman said.

Harris County attorneys, however, say they plan to proceed with the case. A trial was scheduled to start Monday, but has been delayed until February. If State District Judge Alexandra Smoots-Hogan declares Treasures a public nuisance, the club would close for a year.

The suit, filed jointly by the two governments in May, seeks to close the club at 5647 Westheimer for allegedly harboring prostitution, drugs, illegal weapons and sexual assaults. The club's attorneys deny the allegations.

Feldman said the terms of the settlement are to be kept confidential to the extent possible. The Houston Chronicle late Monday submitted a Texas Public Information Act request for the settlement agreement.

Feldman said the agreement allows the city to achieve its aims in filing the suit, and then some.

"The parties have committed to work together to abate any nuisance activities which might occur in Treasures and have joined together to eliminate certain illegal activities in the city of Houston, including human trafficking," Feldman said. "The agreement ... puts procedures, verification and a fund in place that provide an opportunity for abatement in the short and the long term, which goes beyond what litigation might achieve."

Treasures' lead attorney, Casey Wallace, was pleased by the settlement. He called on county attorneys to dismiss their case, saying the city settlement had "destroyed" any remaining claims against the club.

"The city and Treasures are partnering together now, not only in a demonstration that there is no illegal activity going on at Treasures, but we are actively working hand in hand with the city of Houston to do what we can to assist them in the elimination of any nuisance activity in the city of Houston," Wallace said. "We have a perpetual agreement to cooperate with each other and we're going to do that."

The County Attorney's Office, which technically is representing the state of Texas in the suit, remains unsatisfied.

First Assistant County Attorney Terry O'Rourke said the city's decision to settle does not weaken his case.

"The idea that this agreement would remain secret is preposterous," O'Rourke said, adding his office was not even given a copy of the agreement. "This case is going to trial. We will get them."

Houston attorney Joe Larsen, who practices in media and public information law, said he could not think of any information in the settlement agreement that would be allowed to remain confidential.

In September, Smoots-Hogan issued a temporary injunction allowing the club to stay open pending trial but requiring it to follow certain conditions.

The next month, the Texas Supreme Court stayed some of her stipulations, preventing the club from having to perform background checks on its employees, fire anyone on the payroll with a felony conviction in the past decade, perform random drug testing of employees or install 14 video cameras in addition to the existing 12, and turning over tapes weekly to government lawyers.

Under the injunction, employees still must sign in, have their bags checked on camera and completely cover their behinds; patrons must tuck in their shirts; four bouncers must monitor the club's second floor; and police must be called if employees witness sex acts or drug activity.

The case was the subject of much chatter even before campaign finance reports showed that $25,000 had made its way from the owner of Treasures, via an intermediary, to the challenger for sheriff, or that four people associated with the club, including Wallace, had given a combined $48,700 to the challengers of County Attorney Vince Ryan and Smoots-Hogan in the Nov. 6 election; in all three races, the incumbents prevailed.

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